In the halls of Lake Braddock High School, the Minority Parents for Excellence in Education (MPEE) are on a continuous mission to achieve equality for their children's education.
"Our primary mission is to provide excellence in education for our schools. When we see any area of concern, we are on top of it," said Fred Atkinson, a parent of a seventh-grader at Lake Braddock. He's been involved with the group since 1987, when his first child started at Lake Braddock.
"We're not looking for anything more or less, just equal," said Fred Jackson, another parent and the activities director for the organization.
Dan Thomas is the school liaison for the group, as well as the Subschool 4 principal at the high-school level at Lake Braddock. He noted that while Lake Braddock is a Fairfax County Public School and has a good reputation in academic achievements, its staff are continuously striving to improve achievement of minority students.
"It's a pretty good track record, but we want it for all the students. The group is in support of all groups doing well," he said.
There are 30 active members in the group, and "it's growing at each meeting," according to Atkinson.
MPEE at Lake Braddock is modeled after the prototype for the organization in Chantilly. According to Pat Woodward, an assistant in the Office of Education Accountability, the group is called Chantilly Pyramid Minority Student Achievement Committee.
"They've been around for a while," she said, adding that most schools have a group with the same minority goals, but the names vary.
"Most schools have a human relations advisory council or a diversity committee," she said.
No one group stands out, though. Thomas reiterated the goal of all the organizations and the spirit of involvement.
"If we beat each other in helping students achieve, then we've all won," he said.
One thing that was started in early February was the SAT achievement class. It will run through April 20.
"We want to provide an avenue for the test scores to improve," he said.
<mh>Celebration
<bt>On Feb. 24, MPEE is sponsoring its Black History Program in honor of Black History Month. This is an annual event at Lake Braddock, and Jackson says this year's celebration promises to be notable.
The event will include role models, particularly police and firefighters, as well as a jazz band, art and entertainment. It will be held in the Little Theater at Lake Braddock Secondary School from 3-6 p.m..
At an annual awards banquet, scheduled for Thursday, May 9, students in all grades at the school, seven through 12, are recognized for academic achievements and getting a 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 grade point average.
The organization also noted that the cooperation with Lake Braddock principal Linda Burke and cluster director Mike Engley has been instrumental. "We'd like to thank Linda Burke and Mike Engley for listening. They have an open-door policy, it is a two-way policy," Atkinson said.